The present invention relates to a luminous decorative/warning means, and more particularly to a decorative/warning means that is attached to hats, shoes, knapsacks, etc. and emits light only when it is vibrated in the night, and therefore consumes very small amount of power.
There are light emitting means developed for mounting on shoes, knapsacks, hats, etc. in anticipation of securing safety of children and adults walking in the night. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,848,009 and 5,406,724 all disclose such light emitting means.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,009 discloses a light emitting means for mounting on shoes, a circuit diagram of which is shown in FIG. 1. The light emitting means includes a vibration-type starting switch 10, such as a mercury switch. When a user wears shoes provided with such light emitting means and walks, the starting switch 10 is actuated to make a circuit provided in the light emitting means, so that a light source 11 gives out light. The circuit provided in the light emitting means disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,009 could not judge the luminance of surrounding environment. An integrated circuit 12 in the circuit of the light emitting means is always actuated when the starting switch 10 is actuated and thereby causes the light source 11 to give out light. That is, the light emitting means disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,009 emits light even in the daytime so long as the means is under a vibrating condition. The means therefore consumes a lot of power.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,724 also discloses a light emitting means for mounting on shoes, a circuit diagram of which is shown in FIG. 2 As shown, there is a photo sensor 13 included in the circuit to detect a luminance of the surrounding environment at the time the light emitting means is actuated, and a detected result is used as a basis as to whether an integrated circuit 14 in the light emitting means is to be actuated or not. With these arrangements, a small lamp 15 of the light emitting means would not lighten in the daytime. However, the photo sensor 13 needs continuous power supply to function normally. That is, the light emitting means disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,724 is always in a state of consuming power, too.
Since the above-mentioned light emitting means are fixedly mounted on shoes and usually sealed in soles or heels of the shoes in a watertight manner to ensure normal function thereof, they would soon become useless when a power supply inside the means is quickly exhausted due to continuous consumption of power by the means.
It is therefore desirable to develop a low power-consumption luminous means to eliminate drawbacks existing in the conventional light emitting means mounted on shoes for warning purpose.